


One Row Down

by pushupindrag



Category: Captain America - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Blushing Bucky Barnes, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-06
Updated: 2015-04-06
Packaged: 2018-03-21 14:20:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3695555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pushupindrag/pseuds/pushupindrag
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bucky notices somebody fall asleep on the bus everyday and makes it his mission to wake them up each time so they don't miss their stop.</p><p> </p><p>  <i>There was a small guy sitting across from Bucky one row down, head resting against the window. He was sound asleep, despite the bus jolting to and fro and looked entirely too happy to be asleep on public transport.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	One Row Down

**Author's Note:**

> I'm going on a work placement thing for a few weeks and know i'm not gonna get any writing done at all so I managed to get this all down and I messed up the normal character traits and personalities but oh well here it is!
> 
> Un-beta'd so any mistakes are purely my own, so please tell me if you find any :)

There was a small guy sitting across from Bucky one row down, head resting against the window. He was sound asleep, despite the bus jolting to and fro and looked entirely too happy to be asleep on public transport.

Bucky watches the man jerk upright, freak out a little as he saw the road outside the window and lunge towards the button to stop the bus at the stop that was rapidly approaching. He speeds off, thanking the bus driver profusely before high tailing it into the darkening evening, satchel bouncing along behind him. Huh, the guy got off the stop before Bucky’s. Not that Bucky noticed or anything.

It happens again the next evening. Bucky gets on the bus after his day at work, sits at the seat on the right by the window and gets his book out for the forty minute journey. Small blonde guy was already snoozing quietly so Bucky leaves him to it. Thankful that he’s not a person who can’t read on public transport, he quickly gets into the story, trailing the fellowship as they enjoy some time in the house of Elrond.

His internal clock is pretty good, and he notices that his stop is coming up soon so he puts his book away to sort his bag out and get ready. That’s when he notices that Blondie, because that’s what Bucky had taken to calling him, still hadn’t woken up.

He panics, debating what to do. Sure, he could just wake the guy up and be a complete weirdo who talks to strangers, or he could just let the man miss his stop and be like the other two people on the bus who were acting vaguely normal.

Strangers be damned.

"Hey!" He calls quietly, not enough to disturb the man with headphones on at the very back, or the quiet unassuming old lady in the front. "Hey" he hisses again when he doesn’t get an answer and actually leans up out of his seat into the aisle to poke the guy hard in the back.  
“W-what?!” Jumping, Blondie turns to look at him in a panic  
“Your stop’s coming up dude” Bucky shrugs and Blondie relaxes, nodding and grabbing his bag.  
“Thanks.” Then he’s off, with a beam that warms Bucky’s bones.

This happens consecutively for three weeks and Bucky grows accustomed to Blondie blearily smiling up at him the stop before he’s due off. Leaving Bucky to pine after him, silently, like the pathetic person he is. He gets used to watching the man as he sleeps, not creepily, just to check that he’s alright and to try and get a few clues as to who the guy is and what he does. From what he’s seen, the guy must work at a cafe or something but also has some sort of sketchbook, so he may be a creative type. It’s only as he starts paying attention that he notices that Blondie also wears a hearing aid in both ear, his hair not quite covering them, and occasionally when he walks it looks like it hurts, or his breathing catches funny. Bucky concedes that, yes okay he’s getting creepy, and leaves it at that. It doesn’t stop him worrying though, no matter how hard he tries not to. It was none of his business.

“What’s your name by the way?” Blondie asks, as Bucky had accidentally woken him up a few stops too early, and they both converse over the little bus aisle as Steve had taken to sitting in the same row, both on opposite sides. They had turned to face each other, Steve leaning heavily against the glass while Bucky hunched over a little into his knees.  
“Bucky, and yours?” Bucky tries not to sound too eager as he asks  
“Steve, Steve Rogers”  
“Oh, erm Barnes” Bucky stutters, and blushes as Steve laughs  
“Well, good to meet you Bucky erm Barnes. Thanks for saving my ass on the regular.” He’s smirking now, and Bucky blushes harder, muttering some type of response  
“You too”  
“My stop’s coming up” Steve stands, grinning again not unkindly and takes off, pressing the button for the bell as he goes. Bucky was completely fucked.

Bucky starts waking Steve up a little earlier on each Bus ride, figuring that three stops won’t do any harm to Steve’s sleep pattern.  
“Yes I work two jobs” Steve sounds proud when he says it, puffing his small chest a little “I work at the bistro downtown and then at the bar at Shield at night”  
“Nice, I work at the museum” Bucky explains and Steve’s eyes light up  
“I love the museum!”  
“Well I love Shield” They chuckle, and Bucky glances down to fiddle with his finger nails  
“What are you reading today?”  
“Pardon?” Steve doesn’t look offended that Bucky had zoned out a little, just smiles and repeats himself  
“What are you reading?”

“Oh!” Smiling, Bucky takes his book out “The Perks of Being a Wallflower, again” He grins “If you see me crying just ignore me okay, it means I’ve gotten to the end, probably. To be honest there are so many point in this point that can make me well up I swear” He stops himself, hand flying to his mouth. He just admitted that he cried over a book, multiple times, to Steve Rogers. Steve who was cool and funny and flirty, and full of charm and cheek. A smile that melted Bucky from the inside out. Why was Bucky such a dork in front of him? Why did it always happen to him? He could normally get away with some charm of his own in front of people, his mother had said he could charm anybody he looked at. Why did Steve turn him into something that was a stuttering and blushing mess.

“I totally get it” Steve smiles again “And it’s not the ‘we accept the love we think we deserve’ bit ether, its-“ He looks as though he struggles for words  
“Everything else” Bucky finishes and Steve perks up  
“Yes exactly!”   
“Your stop” Bucky says lamely as he watches it approach, Steve just nods and stands, laughing before going to take the time to wave to him through the windows as the bus pulls away.

On the next ride home, Steve isn’t asleep, instead he sits up, and they sit in the same positions as the day before  
“Now I’m going to go out on a limb here okay” Steve breaths, and for once he doesn’t look confident  
“Okay” Bucky reassures, prompting him  
“Would you mind coming on a date with me?” Steve asks, and it knocks Bucky for six just a little bit.  
“You want to go on a date with me?” Now they both look confused, and Steve frowns a little  
“Yes of course, I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t want to”  
“But you’re-“ Bucky gasps “You! All confident and stuff. And I’m not” He finishes weakly and Steve stares at him  
“You’re an idiot. Why would that make a difference to anything? You’re confident enough to help a stranger out multiple times, you make your passions known without worry or fear and you’re completely on my wavelength about books. Although you’re wrong about Oscar Wilde because he wasn’t profound he was fucking pretentious”  
“That’s not true, just because you don’t like Lord Henry doesn’t mean it’s a bad story-“  
“We’re getting off topic” They were. They had loudly had this discussion before, one that went surprisingly well despite their differences in opinion.  
“Okay, and yes I’ll go on a date with you” Bucky beams, finally one to rival Steve’s and they exchange numbers  
“We’ll sort it out later.”

“Finally!” A voice pipes up from the front, the two turn to see the old lady smiling up at them “I was wondering how long it would take you both”  
“Agreed!” The driver calls from the front and now both Bucky and Steve blush.  
“Oh my gosh” Bucky blushes harder, hiding his face in his hands  
“Oh shit” Steve agrees but he’s chuckling under his breath. They tune out the friendly bickering between the woman and the bus driver, turning to each other to share a secret blush of their own, matching grins in tact.


End file.
